Debt relief can start as early
as December, says Minister
~ Consensus on financial supervision close, police law needs more discussion ~
DAWN BEACH--The meeting of the Kingdom Political Steering Group yielded great results yesterday as it pertains to agreements on financial supervision and debt relief among Kingdom partners. Finance Minister Ersilia de Lannooy believes that possibly as soon as December the Dutch government will start taking care of the Antillean entities’ payments in arrears.
“Not much more is needed for the Dutch to start to disburse money to clear the payments in arrears. All debts to creditors of the Central Government, Curaçao and St. Maarten, such as hospital, doctors and pharmacies, will start to be taken care of in December, as soon as the general Resolution governing the Financial Supervision is enacted. The islands will start feeling financial relief immediately,” the Minister said.
However, the Kingdom Law on Police still remains a much debated matter with several differences of opinion. Although an agreement on the main features of the law was reached on October 1, several matters of disagreement surfaced during the drafting of the law.
Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten believes serious discussions still have to take place today, before a consensus can be reached. She brought along a bigger-than-usual delegation aimed at hammering out an agreement so the Round Table Conference scheduled for December 15 can be a success.
Central Government advisors pointed the finger at the Dutch, saying that again they wanted to table old positions while other agreements had been reached already.
De Lannooy also said a lot had to be done today to reach a consensus on the Kingdom Law on Police. Others, such as advisor to the St. Maarten Government Richard Gibson, were more positive, assuring that parties would take all the necessary hurdles today.
De Lannooy, referring to the financial supervision, was pleased with the fact that the Netherlands had complied with all the agreements made in the past on financial supervision. Several points were discussed and she was optimistic the Kingdom Law on Financial Supervision would be finalised today.
She was especially proud of the Dutch Government’s commitment to pay off 70 per cent of the total debt of the Netherlands Antilles for a total of NAf. 3.1 billion. As soon as the Kingdom Law on Financial Supervision has been enacted the Dutch will start paying off the debts of the Netherlands Antilles.
Regarding the supervision as regulated in the law, the Minister said that after five years an independent committee would evaluate whether the entities had met all criteria set. If this is the case the supervision will be ended; if not, it will be continued for another yet-to-be-determined period.
It was also agreed that during the transition period before attaining country status, the Dutch Government would pay off all terminating loans 100 per cent. “Only the interest cost will not be paid in full. The Netherlands will pay 70 per cent and we have to pay 30 per cent,” the Minister said.
There was also an agreement on the division key for the division of assets and liabilities as was proposed by the committee on division of assets and liabilities.
